Tony Blair: Islamic extremism ‘a poison’ that ‘must be eradicated’

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has said radical fundamentalism is a “poison that has developed within the religion of Islam,” which must be eradicated.

In an interview with
John Catsimatidis’ ‘Cats Roundtable’ radio show in New York,
Blair said radical fundamentalism is a“poison that has developed
within the religion of Islam that does not properly represent
Islam, but is nonetheless there, and is encouraged in these
extremist activities that then divide the community.

“It doesn’t come
naturally from within Islam. It’s been created. And it must be
eradicated,”Blair said.

He urged Western nations to prepare and mobilize to tackle the
growing threat of fundamentalism.

“We need to make sure that young people in many of these
countries who have been educated to a close-minded view of the
world instead get an education towards tolerance and respect for
people of different faiths,” he added.

“If we allow these things to continue, then in the end, the
extremists will carry on believing they can get away with this.
We need to mobilize a huge amount of support wherever this type
of terrorism and extremism is happening, to go make sure it’s
defeated.”

Last week, Blair said in a speed to Bloomberg in London that
tackling Islamist extremism should be the main priority on
political agendas in the West. He warned that the West cannot
stand by and do nothing as conflicts like the one in Syria are
ongoing.

“The threat of this radical Islam is not abating. It is
growing. It is spreading across the world. It is destabilizing
communities and even nations. It is undermining the possibility
of peaceful co-existence in an era of globalization. And in the
face of this threat we seem curiously reluctant to acknowledge it
and powerless to counter it effectively,” Blair added.

The ongoing fallout from the 2003 Iraq War – widely held to have
contributed to subsequent civil war and the rise of Islamic State
– and Blair’s alleged dalliance with a variety of authoritarian
regimes have earned him considerable censure.

He has been castigated by human rights activists for advising
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on how to manage criticism
sustained in the wake of the 2011 massacre of up to 100 striking
oil workers in Zhanaozen.

More recently, his closeness to the military-backed regime of
Egypt's Abdel Fatah Sisi has also been under the spotlight.

In November 2014, staffers at global charity Save the Children
were enraged when Blair was awarded the organization’s Global
Legacy Award.

Two hundred of them signed a letter condemning the award as
“morally reprehensible.”